NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL FISHERIES REFORM GROUP; JOSEPH WILLIAM ALBEA; DAVID ANTHONY SAMMONS; CAPTAIN SETH VERNON; CAPTAIN RICHARD ANDREWS; DWAYNE BEVELL v. CAPT. GASTON LLC; ESTHER JOY, INC.; HOBO SEAFOOD, INC.; LADY SAMAIRA INC.; and et al.
Publication Year
2023
Description
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that shrimpers don't violate the Clean Water Act (CWA) when they throw bycatch overboard and disturb sediment with their trawl nets as alleged by North Carolina Coastal Fisheries Reform Group and a group of individual plaintiffs. The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the case, finding that because “[r]eturning bycatch to the ocean is not discharging a pollutant” and “trawl nets merely kick up sediment already present,” the activities do not violate the CWA.
[To accompany Case Law Update "Fourth Circuit Affirms that Shrimpers Who Toss Bycatch and Disturb Sediments are not “Discharging a Pollutant” in Violation of the CWA" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 202]